


The Lion-Tamer

by poppycostello



Series: Doctor Constable [6]
Category: Sherlock Holmes - fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-15
Updated: 2012-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-29 15:02:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/321159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppycostello/pseuds/poppycostello
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holmes and Watson are brought back to the Constable household where Watson gets some answers and discovers even more questions. Loyalties become extremely confused and everybody is acting out of character. There is a discovery of the Society for the Downfall of Sherlock Holmes though it seems that they have only touched the roots of the organisation ad must delve deeper at a later stage, if they wish to solve the mystery of the Constables.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Lion-Tamer

"Take this." He passed me what seemed to be a grenade of sorts. "It emits smoke when detonated, nothing more. We will need it tonight. When I give the signal, pull the pin and escape as quickly as you can, using back-roads to return to Baker Street if we become separated."  
"What is the signal to be?" I asked.  
"Why, when my work is done and the questions are over, of course! Now come on, they're looking for us already. Ah, they have blindfolds. How novel."  
Minutes later, we were no less than man-handled into the Constable family home by the two more aggressive-looking brothers, had the blindfolds from the journey removed from our eyes, and were ordered to sit. My friend kept looking around him keenly, taking in every square inch of his new surroundings, cataloguing them in his brilliant mind for another time when they might come in useful. He had such an eye for detail, that man. Eventually, he seemed to satisfy himself, and placed his eye upon the meatier brother as if he were permitting him to commence speaking.  
"Right," said the brother."I think that everything would be best if you were entirely honest with us, Mister Holmes, as to why you were in that basement tonight. And don't try to deny that it was you who called the police. I happen to have several sympathisers within the force and they assured me that our meeting tonight would not be disturbed. So, by process of deduction, it was you who raised the alarm."  
"I do not deny it," said my companion. "And, if we are in the business of deducing things from other things, might I amuse you will a few deductions of my own?"  
"If you fancy being humiliated and wrong, then be my guest. I can assure you that we have taken every precaution necessary to keep our more, controversial actions quite secretive and untraceable over the years."  
"Oh, yes, not that, I am quite sure that you put a semblance of effort into that. Rather more so at least than when you broke into Dr. Watson's house yesterday."  
"He did what?" I cried, feeling extremely taken aback. "That's impossible, we are light sleepers both, Mary and I, and our servant girls always lock up every last window impeccably!"  
"Oh, I suppose 'break in' was the wrong turn of phrase. He snuck in through the back door at some point during the afternoon and hid in...the loft? Yes. Before, presumably, escaping out of the same door later that night once the sun had set. Am I correct?"  
The man had paled at this point and although he tried to deny the crime, he was blustering so much that I knew Holmes had hit upon the truth.  
I jumped out of my seat and raised my revolver and aimed it as if to shoot him point blank but Holmes held me back until I had composed myself slightly.  
"What did you want? What did you take? Did you harm my wife? I swear I'll kill the lot of you. Answer me!" I shouted, quite uncontrollable in my rage.  
"Frank," a female voice suddenly called out. It took me a while to connect the sound with Maisie and realise that she was witnessing this showdown. "Frank, please don't say you hurt this man in any way? You wouldn't, would you Frank? He's not bad, I swear!" Here, she burst in between the two of us and threw her arms around my neck and appealed directly to me. "I promise, he's not a bad 'un, just...heavy-handed and slightly uncouth. He wouldn't rob you or hurt your wife, he wouldn't!" She rounded on Frank again. "Would you?" she demanded.  
"No," he answered, squaring up to both of us. "In fact, I was doin' business wityer wife, I was."  
I instantly jumped to the conclusion that seemed blindingly obvious.  
"It was you! I swear I'll kill you with my bare hands!" I roared, and would have commenced doing so had Holmes not suddenly uttered three most astonishing words.  
"It's not him. Put your gun down, Watson, do sit down. Mr. Constable here was merely doing a recon of your house, lest I should have been staying there. He had already checked 221b Baker Street earlier in the day and found it to be deserted (or so he thought) and chanced on my next most likely stop-out."  
"Holmes," I said. "I am not in the mood for guessing games and mysteries and clues right now. Did this man break into my property?"  
"Yes, but-"  
"Did this man take anything of mine, disrupt anything or place me in any danger?"  
"As I was not with you, no."  
"But if you had been."  
"This is a most stupid and unnecessary line of questioning, my dear Watson. As I knew this man was out to prevent my mobility and, thus, my ability to disrupt his evening soiree, why would I have placed myself with you and thus put you in the most imminent danger as well? It really is most inconceivable. Do try to think logically."  
"I am trying."  
"Try harder, " was his contrite response. "Now, the question remaining is why were you so keen to prevent my attending tonight?"  
"I hardly think that is the most pressing question, " I muttered, still smarting from my companions quick dismissal of me and also, his ability to know every last detail about everybody, even it seemed, my wife's most intimate relations. It angered me that he was party to such information and I wondered why he had not told me sooner, if he had known.  
"That's our business, "snarled Frank. "How did you know where we were? Even if you had heard of us, you can't have been told where the meeting was to take place."  
"Yes I was," answered Holmes. "In fact, I was invited by one of you. Is the man of the house available to speak to, by the way? I must congratulate him on sending your sister to spy on me and my movements over the past couple of days. She really was quite convincing for two hours until I found the easiest way to break her."  
"And what was that, eh? Your manly advances? Bohemian charm? And I should've known that that old fool invited you, always had a soft spot for you and your...occupation, he has."  
"Oh, it wasn't him," said Holmes.  
By this point, my mind, as you can imagine, dear reader, was struggling to keep up with the facts being thrown around, let alone the theorem. Maisie had been sent to spy on us by her brothers? But then, why had she spoke of running away to France? And, if part of her mission had been to keep us away to-night, then why had she seemed so delighted upon learning of our coming?  
"Then who was it?"  
"As I just said, one of you," Holmes stipulated, gesturing widely to encompass the entire company.  
"Theodore! Come 'ere, you rascal!" Frank turned and advanced upon the copper-haired, nervous-looking youth and struck him, viciously, across the face, causing the boy to cry out in pain.  
"Here now, stop that," I cried, horrified as to his treatment of his own brother. Holmes, however, surreptitiously motioned at me to cease attempting to curb Frank Constable's behaviour, although I did not see how it could possibly advantage us.  
"I'm innocent Frank, it weren't me! I hate Mr. Sherlock Holmes as much as you, honest I do, please don't hit me, brother, please!"  
"Why do you hate me, Frank?" asked my companion acting all innocence and feigned surprise.  
"Because you believe you are the law. Because you are who even the police turn to, when they should be the ones solving crimes as they are the ones receiving the cheques for the job. Because our father loves you even though you swindled him out of £1000. Because-"  
"Now hold up," I interjected. "My friend would do no such thing. He has not a malignant bone in his body."  
"Dear Watson, although your evanescent faith in me is beyond touching, I must confess that what he says it true. I did cause his father to lose a stake of £1000, in the summer of '03. In my defence, he was a renowned gambler with an already large pile of debts and I feared a win such as that would only have speared on his addiction to the game. I did not, however, cheat at the game."  
"Liar," accused Frank Constable of my friend. "He says that it was like magic, the way you waltzed into the game and won all of his chips away from him, the whole lot!"  
"it may have appeared like magic, but I can assure you that my methods, although apparently inaccessible, seem quite absurdly simple when explained. Watson can attest to that."  
"Indeed, I can," I replied, as it was nothing less than the truth.  
"However," Holmes carried on, "that is not why you despise me and why you set up the Society for the Downfall of Sherlock Holmes. No, I do believe that you are simply the dancing lion and not the circus master that I once thought. The only question is then, who has groomed you and for what purpose?"  
"I think we've answered enough of your questions, Mr. Holmes. I think the time has come for-"  
He never did get to finish his sentence as he erupted into a series of deep coughs the second that I detonated the device which Holmes had given me. Instantly the room was filled with acrid, black smoke and I heard the alarm of fire being raised by young Theodore.  
"This way." I felt Holmes take hold of my wrist and lead me through the smoke to the exit of the house when I suddenly felt another hand touch mine. I recoiled when I saw it was Maisie and tried to harden my heart towards her, after knowing her true purpose for visiting Holmes. To my surprise, Holmes, gestured her to follow us also and then called back to me, "It's okay, Watson, she's on our side. A double-bluff spy, if you will. Women do make the most fabulous weapons." She fell into step with us and I marvelled at how well she ran, it seemed her pace almost matched that of my companion, who always had a plentiful supply of nervous energy on which to draw.  
"Ah, so that's why you wish to marry me, because I am a weapon, and you can display me as something to be feared."  
"How did you-?" Holmes seemed genuinely taken aback and I almost laughed out loud, so much pleasure did I take from this role-reversal where Holmes was the one who was surprised by a revelation of facts.  
She shrugged. "It was obvious. The actions of my father made it more so."  
"Well," Holmes spluttered, "is that a rejection?"  
"No," she replied, "it's merely a reflection. I am not that weapon-like, just so you know."  
"I realise this, " he replied, "or else you would not have failed the test I put in front of you."  
Now it was her turn to look puzzled.  
"You are, if I may say so, completely smitten with Dr. Watson here, are you not? I allowed you twenty minutes alone together and you reappear quite besotted. No, dear girl, you wouldn't be much use of a weapon at all, you have too much of a heart."  
"And are you rejecting me then because I have a heart."  
"No, I intend to marry you because of it."  
I smiled, admiring now the way she kept up with my friend in terms of his curveballs and blunted reasoning. She took her time in replying and at first I presumed she was upset at having been played so, until, a few seconds later, she replied. Her words were barely audible though I am sure that Holmes heard her as I was now the one who had caught up with him, she having fallen behind. Therefore, it was I who witnessed the grin on his face at her reply, that was, simply, "Same here."


End file.
